Biology Outreach Program
Public School Teachers
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| photo by Orin Basshoff '04 |
The public school teachers we work with come from varied science backgrounds. However, all have great enthusiasm for learning, as well as patience in teaching us the realities of primary school education.
The Biology Outreach Program focuses on high-needs elementary schools. We are currently working in 15 classrooms at five Title I schools: Beach, Grout, Lewis Elementary, Humboldt and Lincoln Park Elementary.
There is a lot of flexibility built into the Biology Outreach Program, as each grade school teacher has a different set of goals and accommodations for his or her classroom. Each teacher has the opportunity to work with the Reed volunteers and tailor the units to fit their specific classroom needs. The program allows for a great deal of interaction and coordination between all parties involved: Reed Professors, PPS teachers, Reed students and the kids.
Portland Public Schools have a limited budget, similar to most public school districts across the country. At the same time, higher standards are being placed on students to gain greater levels of proficiency in subjects, including science. Specifically, the Oregon Content Science Standards set benchmarks tested in the third and fifth grade year. The Biology Outreach Program provides materials and teacher support to public school classes which otherwise lack the resources necessary to make science a priority in the classroom.